


the waves will break every chain on me

by Panny



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Free! Kink Meme, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-30
Updated: 2014-06-03
Packaged: 2018-01-27 01:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1709921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Panny/pseuds/Panny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All the omens point to it being a particularly prosperous year for Iwatobi's relationship with their resident water spirit and with their strong affinity for water magic Nanase Haruka and Matsuoka Rin have long been predicted to be the next Priest and Knight respectively. Of course, the destiny you expect isn't always the destiny you're owed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: death of a non-canon character in the opening of the prologue.

Once upon a time, an old woman sat in the shallows of the beach, languishing in how the cool water soothed her sore feet. She was idly aware of the people watching her, knowing that they whispered to each other and thought her mad. Fine by her. If they thought her a crazy old woman then they were less likely to bother her. She wanted these moments to herself, as little of her life had been.

She felt the water tug at the trails of her skirt and frowned severely. "Don't sulk," she snapped, surely startling some of the busy bodies up the beach, "It won't be very long for you so you have no reason to be upset. I am very old and I have seen most of my friends pass before me,  _her_ included. I am ready to be done with it, don't begrudge me this."

She cocked her head as if listening though only the gentle crash of the waves broke the silence. A slow, fond smile spread over her face. "Of course you are, don't be silly. This won't be forever - we are bound by fate you and I. Wait for me in Iwatobi and I will find you again." She started to laugh because she felt like it, but was cut short, gripping herself and grimacing. Suddenly the water felt too cold and the sun, which had seemed so pleasant before, too hot. "Come now, I cannot wait any longer. It's time."

There were shouts of alarm from up the beach as a large wave suddenly reared up and swallowed the old woman, dragging her with it.

The old woman for her part was oblivious to the commotion, wrapped in a cocoon of familiar warmth and gazing up at the distorted world that had always stolen her breath without ever depriving her of oxygen. He loved her far too dearly to allow such a thing while it was in His power to prevent it.

But of course even He couldn't stop the flow of time any more than she had been able to when she lost her brother or her best friend or her lover.

She watched the small bubbles of her breath climb for the surface and the last moments of her life passed in peace and privacy. The darkness of the ocean enveloped her like an embrace and that was all she knew.

 

* * *

 

The legend goes that a fisherman and his wife were out at sea together when a terrible storm hit. While both survived, their boat was destroyed and the fisherman was terribly injured. The man and his wife floated for some time on a piece of the wreckage that had been large enough to buoy them when he began claiming to hear a child's voice. The woman worried that this was sign of delirium, but feared even more that someone else, someone with a child, had been caught in the storm and needed help. Despite their own predicament, under her husband's guidance the woman paddled their make-shift raft in search of the voice.

When they reached the voice's source they met not a child, but the spirit of the water. The spirit was touched by the kindness of the couple - that even given their situation, they would seek to help another for only the slightest possibility that they could. The spirit then saved them, but more importantly He befriended them.

This was the start of Iwatobi's bond with the spirit of the water. The wise and gentle fisherman became the first Priest - the bridge between the mortal and spirit world, blessed by the spirit with great power. His brave and kind wife became the first Knight - a powerful warrior destined to stand by the Priest's side and protect them from harm. A new Priest and Knight were always born within a year of their predecessor's death and formed their pact with the spirit before the completion of their twentieth year.

Over the generations the process became more refined, favouring practicality over tradition. Schools were created to train all children who showed any inclination toward water affinity, magic or combat. Every effort was made to prepare the Priest and Knight long before they were ever chosen. After one horrible incident when a Priest had attempted to form the pact with spirit alone and had been killed, drowned likely before he had even realized what was happening, a festival was formed around the confirmation of the chosen. Everyone said that it was to thank the spirit and celebrate the prosperity of the coming year. Everyone knew it was to ensure that those dark years were never repeated.

It was inevitable that the Priests would begin traveling as the fame of Iwatobi's contract with the spirit of the water grew. For reasons of diplomacy, for reasons of trade and because the kindness of some Priests would not allow them to let others suffer drought, flood or famine while only Iwatobi prospered. The Priests' high status, great power and their ever present Knights meant that they never had need to fear harm, even when visiting areas involved in war and so such arrangements continued without problem for some time.

Then a Priest (whose Knight had died the previous month of illness) passed away while visiting a distant land. Her body, having been swept away by the sea was never found. After that point the spirit became unusually sullen. The next Priest insisted that He was still present and had not abandoned them, but He was less communicative and it was more difficult to convince Him to offer His aid. Members of the Priest's Order concluded that the spirit must have been upset by their inability to offer the previous Priest a proper burial and decreed that no Priest would be allowed to leave Iwatobi again.

Still things with the spirit did not improve and Iwatobi's neighbours were predictably unhappy about the change, leading to a degree of tension that had not been present since time out of living memory. For Iwatobi itself, as each generation passed with average weather, average success in fishing and an average number of oceanic tragedies, its people began to lose faith in the power of the spirit and began to wonder if the legends really only were just stories. They had long lost their appreciation for average.

The schooling, the festival, the selection and the maintenance of the Order continued in spite of the growing doubt and one day the Order greeted the people with Iwatobi with grand news. They had observed several good omens that they decreed to be a sign from the water spirit that the next Priest would be the one who would return them to the prosperity their history texts spoke of. The spirit had finally forgiven them for their mistake.

Many new parents visited the shrine after that, asking aloud that the spirit bless their children with good health and silently praying that their child would be _chosen_.

The Order maintained a careful list of each birth, determined that they identify the new Priest as soon as possible, writing down the names of children born within _two_ years of the last Priest's death just to be certain. This meant that some families, like the Matsuokas, had two children registered to be tested for water affinity at the earliest possible age while others, like the Nanases, only had one. This caused some friction, particularly among some of the richer families in Iwatobi, who felt cheated out of an "extra chance" to have one of their progeny chosen. The Order despaired over the way that some had forgotten their reverence, but clung to the hope that this time would be different.

This is where our story begins.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this a fill for a [prompt](http://iwatobiswimclub.dreamwidth.org/1985.html?thread=2014401) that I saw on the Free! Kink Meme _forever_ and one crashed laptop ago. Good thing that my Google-fu is strong, I guess.
> 
> I'd put off reading the other fills for the prompt since the time I initially intended to start filling it (didn't want my ideas to be influenced by anyone else's), so hopefully I'm not stepping on any toes with the direction I intend to take this.


	2. Undertow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter the beginnings of our cast.

Makoto's fear of water started early.

Even wading into the shallows at the beach he felt like there was something pulling at him. Something that, if he let it, would pull him down and down and he would never see the sun again. Haru always looked at him funny when he mentioned it and told him it was just the undertow, nothing to be afraid of. Haru knew _everything_ about water and so, with the easy faith of a child, Makoto believed him.

When Makoto was nine the old man from down the street died during what should have been a routine day of spearfishing. Makoto of course would have been upset by the man's death no matter how it happened - he had often delivered bread to him on his mother's behalf and the man had always greeted him cheerfully and been kind to him. But Makoto overheard his parents discussing the accident. Overheard his father say that the old man had probably been caught in a rip current that had dragged him deeper into the ocean and he had been too exhausted to find his way to the shore again.

Any child might fear the monster under the bed in spite of any reassurances their parents can offer. No child wants their parents to confirm that the monster existed all along.

After that Haru began choosing to swim in the lake more often, saying that he didn't want to swim in the same place all the time even though Makoto knew that he'd always preferred the ocean to still water and routinely sulked when the weather made it too dangerous. Expressing himself had never come easy to Haruka, but he made up for it with the quiet ways in which he could be kind, for which he neither expected nor wanted acknowledgement. Makoto thanked him anyway and if Haru was embarrassed by it then Makoto repaid him with his own kindness by pretending not to notice.

When Makoto was eleven Haru taught him the backstroke and he was relieved at how much better he felt with his face toward the sun. The degree to which he had missed swimming with his friend had rivaled the strength of his fear and eventually won out. He had always been afraid of the water and he had always swam anyway because swimming with Haruka was _special_. There was no reason to worry when he was in the lake's still water. It was nothing like swimming in the ocean.

If he still felt like there was something trying to pull him under, he tried to pretend otherwise.

When Makoto was twelve Haru almost drowned. It had been raining hard earlier that day and predictably he had ignored Makoto's cautions not to run across the slippery rocks on their way to the lake. Even the best swimmer could be taken down by a solid hit to the head. That Haru had only lived because Makoto had become a strong swimmer through practice was little consolation. He was plagued by nightmares for weeks and refused to swim again.

When adults from their village had found them, Haruka had still been unconscious and Makoto had been barely coherent, sobbing repeatedly that "the thing in the lake" had tried to take Haru.

 

* * *

 

Tachibana Makoto, now thirteen, sat outside the front of his family's home looking thoroughly miserable. He hadn't expected the water affinity test to go well exactly - everyone knew that he had no real talent for magic in general and anything to do with water brought its own issues. But, wincing as he once again heard the voices inside rise in volume, he knew he hadn't really thought it would be _this_ bad.

Looking up he could see Haru making his way down the street, walking slow enough to seem unhurried even though Makoto knew he must have been bursting with excitement over the results of his own test. Makoto, ever the dutiful friend, did his best to plaster on a smile before shouting: "How'd it go, Haru-chan?" Haru didn't bother saying anything, not even to chastise Makoto for using an honorific that he'd been insisting he was too old for for a year now, but he did pick up the pace slightly. Ah, it must have been really good news then.

And indeed when Haru got close enough that Makoto could get a proper look at his face, he could see Haru's eyes shining with the kind of quiet excitement that he remembered from when they were younger. Whenever they found a new spot to swim in, his eyes had always looked just like that. Before everything changed.

But then the joy in Haru's eyes rapidly died. Makoto was already opening his mouth when Haru beat him to the punch, echoing his thoughts perfectly.

"What's wrong?"

"Eh? Nothing!" He really didn't want his problems to ruin this like they had ruined swimming. "I'm fine. Tell me about your test."

Haru huffed and shot him a look that clearly conveyed how stupid he thought Makoto was being before reaching out and pulling Makoto's hand away from where it was protectively cradled against his chest. Makoto hissed out a pained breath and Haru quickly let go, eyes wide with shock at the angry red of the skin.

Makoto drew his hand back close, curling in on himself more than before. He knew that Haru probably wanted an explanation, but he didn't have one to offer. The test should have been safe enough - all he'd had to do was put his hand in a bowl of water from the shore nearest the shrine and either something would happen or nothing would. He'd stuck his hand in, surprised to find the water warm despite the time of year and it had been fine at first. But then he'd felt the same pulling sensation he always felt when he was around too much water - the same feeling that had been at its strongest when Haruka almost drowned - and even knowing that it was ridiculous, he'd been afraid. And then the water had become very, very hot.

But Haru was still quiet and waiting so Makoto simply said: "I panicked." It was the only thing he knew for sure.

The door opened behind him and Makoto turned his head to see the member of the Order who'd come to test him on her way out. She noticed him quickly as well and immediately resumed the profuse apologies she'd been delivering up until Makoto's parents asked him to wait outside. Makoto patiently waited her out, smiling easily and feeling a little embarrassed. It hadn't been her fault after all.

After she accepted that yes, Makoto would be okay and no, he wasn't angry with her, she turned to where Haru was glaring. "Oh, Nanase-kun, you're here as well," she said, apparently oblivious to the veritable storm cloud brewing over his head, "I'm Amakata Miho - I'll be your combat instructor starting this summer. I know I may not look like much, but as a great philosopher once said, 'a small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history'." Makoto shifted doubtfully - somehow it didn't seem like that quote really fit.

"Anyway," Amakata continued, "I just wanted to congratulate you on your exceptionally high score, Nanase-kun. We haven't seen someone with this much aptitude toward water magic in a long time."

Makoto glanced at Haru, expecting him to be embarrassed, but secretly pleased as he often was when confronted with praise. But Haru was staring down at his feet, brows knit and fists clenched.

For the first time in a long time, Makoto had no idea what his best friend was thinking at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd planned to have this chapter go on for one or two more scenes, but this actually felt like a natural place to end it (and I'm exhausted anyway haha).
> 
> This means that next chapter will be the transition into Haru's point of view and we'll have a little more back story before diving right into the selection ceremony and the beginnings of the plot's meat. Also Rin and Rei will make their first appearances.


	3. Rip Current

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and Rei make an appearance. We reach the end of the backstory and plot happens.

Haru was pleased to discover that his assumption had been correct - the window of Makoto's ground-level bedroom stood open, letting in what little breeze there was to compensate for the dry summer heat. The sounds of the festival at his back carried easily and while he wasn't too bothered about missing it, he hoped that Makoto wasn't feeling left out while his parents took his brother and sister to the various games.

As long as Haru had known him, Makoto had been prone to sickness during the early months of summer. The worst always hit right around festival time when Makoto would become pale and clammy and confined to bed rest  - every year like clockwork. He knew that some of the other kids had assumed that Makoto must be faking it and Haru might have assumed the same if he didn't know how much Makoto hated to worry anyone. And if he hadn't seen how bad Makoto looked for himself.

He climbed through the window, landing as quietly as he could and ready to leave if it looked like Makoto was asleep. He would have left Makoto to his rest in the first place, but he was leaving to begin training first thing in the morning. The thought of Makoto feeling hurt because Haru hadn't even tried to say goodbye left him queasy for reasons he didn't care to examine too closely.

Apparently, he needn't have worried - Makoto was propped up against the wall, hair mussed and eyes drooping, but still awake. "Haru!" He didn't sound the least bit surprised, as if he had been expecting him all along. Typical.

"You should be sleeping," Haru said even though only a moment ago that hadn't been what he wanted at all. Now that he was there, he found himself at a loss for what to say, standing awkwardly by the window he'd just come through.

"Don't worry, Haru," Makoto said, smiling gently at him. Trying to reassure him even though he was the one sick and unable to leave his room. Even though he was the one who was going to be left behind. "You'll like training - they'll let you practice water magic every day. I'll write to you all the time, but promise me that you'll at least try to make friends." There was an amused note to Makoto's voice, as if he knew his advice would be disregarded even as he gave it.

Haru scowled at the floor. He'd never been good at making friends and it had never really bothered him before. And the other kids in town had stopped making even a token effort to befriend him after he had kicked Tsukimoto for calling Makoto a crybaby when they were nine, ironically making the other boy cry. It had always been fine by him that it was just him and Makoto and that everyone had left them alone. That was the way it had always been and he hadn't ever seen why it needed to change.

Except now it had to, didn't it?

 

* * *

 

Haru had worried about leaving Makoto alone, but within a week of starting training he was annoyed to find that he was the one struggling. Makoto was a meddlesome worrywart who never gave him any peace and yet at some point Haru had begun to rely on him without even realizing how much. One morning he stayed in the bath until he was pruned and wrinkly out of spite (that this was in vain because of course Makoto would never know did not improve his mood) and regretted it as the water grew cold, his skin breaking into goose pimples even before he got out. If Makoto were there he would have scolded Haru and fretted about the possibility of him making himself sick, but he still would have offered him a warm hand and a gentle smile all the same.

But Makoto wasn't there so it didn't matter what he would have done or thought, did it?

That day Haru forgot his lunch again, which was becoming something a pattern. It definitely didn't keep happening because Haru had never had to worry about things like that when he'd had Makoto to worry about them for him. Worse still, he hadn't had time for breakfast after taking too long in the bath and by lunchtime his stomach was making its displeasure known. The dorms were too far away to go back and get something. By the time he arrived, he wouldn't have any time to make something to eat before he had to turn around or be late for his next class.

Haru was debating the merits of just going anyway and skipping his next class - it was physical combat, which he didn't really like anyway and while his parents would have been disappointed, they were still sailing around the Southern Isles so he didn't think they got an opinion (he very carefully didn't think about how Makoto also would have been disappointed) - when he became aware of someone placing a chair in front of him and sitting down without even asking for an invitation.

"Yo, Nanase-kun." The boy - Haru thought his name started with "ma" but he hadn't bothered to learn it - was obnoxiously loud in the quiet room. "What you did today at water practice was _amazing_ , you have to teach me later."

Haru sourly thought that he had to do no such thing. He turned his head to stare out the window, deciding that he'd just ignore the boy until he got fed up and left him alone. Of course, that was when his stomach decided to growl particularly loudly.

"Huh, don't you have a lunch, Nanase-kun?" The boy seemed to have no reservations about leaning into Haru's personal space, scanning his lap and the floor by his feet as if his lunch would suddenly materialize. "You can't just go without food - you need fuel to do this stuff, you know? Here, I probably made too much so it's okay if we share."

The boy pushed his lunch toward Haru who intended to ignore that too, but after another loud complaint from his stomach he found himself digging in. Irritatingly, the food was really good, too. He glanced warily up at the other boy who just continued grinning at him as if Haru hadn't been trying to blow him off this entire time.

 

* * *

 

Matsuoka Rin was nothing like Tachibana Makoto. Rin was boisterous where Makoto was quiet. Rin was daring where Makoto was cautious. Rin had drive where Makoto had patience. Rin couldn't have filled Makoto's place, he always would have been bursting out of a mold that never, ever could have contained him. And perhaps that made him easier to accept.

Rin had always been something all his own.

 

* * *

 

"So we're all in agreement then," the elder said, gaze still focused on the papers before him, "Nanase Haruka and Matsuoka Rin are the likely candidates."

"What about the Ryuugazaki heir?" someone to Miho's left piped up. She couldn't place the voice no matter how she tried and swore to go over the list of names again when she got home. She would get this down - she would! "I seem to recall him scoring almost as high as Matsuoka in water affinity."

"Yes, but his work here has been astonishingly poor." Someone on her right this time - Kazama Aoi-san, maybe? "Has he been slacking off in his studies?"

"Nah, not a chance." That was Sasabe Gorou-san, definitely. She was pleased that she hadn't had to look to where he was seated across from her to know - at least she could recognize her fellow instructors. "I've never seen anyone work as hard as Ryuugazaki-kun. I don't care what the test said, the kid just doesn't have the knack for water magic, plain and simple. We all know it's not unusual for strong magical families to occasionally produce someone with no magical ability whatsoever - like it burns out over the generations."

There was some uneasy muttering around the table and Miho flushed, realizing that they all must be thinking about the incident with Tachibana Makoto two years ago. Her training had included education on magical backlash, of course, so she'd known that occasionally when someone tried to tap into magic that they couldn't wield the magic would lash out at them, potentially causing injury. But the test should have been safe - the children weren't even expected to do any magic themselves, untrained as they were, the water blessed by the spirit should have drawn it out of them naturally. It was a one in a million chance of something going wrong, but it had and it had happened on her watch.

Well, what was done was done, she couldn't prevent what happened to Tachibana-kun now. Ryuugazaki-kun, on the other hand, was still her student and as an instructor she couldn't allow the Order to write him off so quickly.

"Ryuugazaki-kun shows exceptional promise in physical combat," she said, feeling her face heat up more as every head turned to her, but refusing to quail. "I believe that the words of a great thinker may guide us in this situation: 'talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see'."

The table remained silent and Miho almost regretted speaking when Sasabe-san smiled brightly at her. "Is that so? Well, then maybe he'll find work in Samezuka. I hear they're always looking for capable fighters and young blood is in short supply."

The uneasy muttering resumed, but with new worries. Iwatobi's relationship with Samezuka had been tense ever since generations long passed had forbidden the Priest from leaving the town. That in recent years Samezuka's lord had been amassing what amounted to a small army that was still considerably larger than what such a minor state should require during times of peace had left many unsettled.

Of course, Miho hardly thought that Iwatobi was in any position to throw stones, being only a small fishing town and yet training much of their youth for battle from a young age and being home to a magical force of possibly unrivaled strength. But she remained quiet, believing she had probably pushed her luck for the day.

 

* * *

 

"Haru!" Haru swallowed hard, seeing Makoto's waxy complexion and the way he swayed on his feet even as he smiled cheerfully in greeting. How long had this been going on? Was this just the summer sickness? Something more? He wanted to ask, but four years of absence felt like a distance too large to cross. Four years ago he never would have had to, Makoto would simply have known.

"You must be Tachibana." Rin had come up beside him while he struggled to choose his words, having no problem breaking the silence himself while he slung a companionable arm around Haru's shoulders. "This guy talks about you all the time." This wasn't true of course - Rin had gotten his name because he had no respect for privacy and had seen Makoto's letters, which he had never stopped sending even though Haru never replied. Seeing the way Makoto's whole face brightened, Haru suddenly wished that it was. Wished that he'd thought to mention Makoto to Rin even once if only to prevent the weird flips his stomach was doing.

But Rin was already charging on, not giving Haru any time to gather his thoughts before he had to pay attention to the next thing that was being said. "Hey, you don't look so good." Haru was struck with an odd sense of deja-vu as Rin leaned into Makoto's space to examine him closer. "Why are you running this booth all by yourself? I know festival nights are busy, but can't your boss even let you have the night off when you look like you're about to keel over?"

Makoto waved his hand as if Rin's concern was a physical thing he could brush away. "Oh, I'm just watching things until my parents get back. My younger brother and sister are good kids, but they're kind of a handful. I'll be fine - they shouldn't be much longer."

Rin looked around even as Makoto was talking, face lighting up when he apparently found who he was looking for. "Oi, Ryuugazaki!"

Haru glanced over and saw Ryuugazaki Rei jump at being addressed before recovering his composure and jogging over. "Yes, Matsuoka-senpai?"

"I heard your parents are out of town - so you'd be free tonight, yeah? Tachibana here could use a hand manning the fort."

Haru saw something that might have been irritation flash across Ryuugazaki's face (who could blame him, Rin had just volunteered him without asking). But Ryuugazaki was too proper to ignore a request from someone who was already being treated unofficially as Iwatobi's Knight. Once he looked at Makoto, who was already protesting that the help wasn't necessary even though he was looking worse by the minute, Haru knew Ryuugazaki wasn't going to refuse.

"Good man." Rin clapped Ryuugazaki on the back hard enough that his glasses slipped down his nose a little. "I'm sure Tachibana's parents will be back in time to relieve you before the selection ceremony starts. Who knows, if you do a good job you might have a career ahead of you."

As they walked off, Rin stating that he wanted to see more of the festivities before the trainees were called away, Haru stared at his profile, wondering if he should say anything. Rin had always, always been prone to a sort of careless kindness. But more and more recently, Rin sometimes fell into a degree of thoughtless cruelty.

"You can just come out and say it, you know." Rin smirked, glancing sidelong at him. Well, Haru supposed that made the decision for him.

"Ryuugazaki doesn't want to work in a shop."

"Is that all," Rin said, shrugging and smiling more easily, "It doesn't really matter what he wants, he can't do water magic. Some people have talent and some people don't. If you don't, it's best to just accept it and take advantage of the opportunities you get."

Rin seemed to consider the conversation done at that point even though Haru's frown only deepened. Denying water to someone who appreciated it, reducing everything to talent and competition...he couldn't understand it at all. He had gotten by without anyone to speak for him for four years. He had never needed anyone to explain his thoughts to Rin. But still he wished that Makoto was still there to do just that now. Somehow Makoto would know the right thing to say.

 

* * *

 

Rin stood in front of the shrine, looking shocked and hurt as the Order confirmed the results.

Negative. The result was negative. Rin wasn't the Knight. He wasn't the Priest. He wasn't anything.

Haru tried to grab Rin's arm as he passed, not even sure what he wanted to say except that he was sure that he was supposed to say _something_. But Rin shook him off angrily, not giving him a chance to do more than open his mouth before he was taking off at a run and there was nothing Haru could do to stop him. He felt numb and cold and all he could think was that he was glad that the initial ceremony was private. If Rin's mother and sister had seen him at this moment, his pride probably wouldn't have been able to endure it.

Haru approached the shrine when his name was called like he was in a fog. He barely registered Amakata smiling encouragingly at him and Sasabe giving him a thumb's up before someone had taken hold of his wrist and his hand was plunged into water.

He felt it instantly, the way that something inside him that he'd never realized was wrong snapped into place. Warmth raced up his arm, filling him and surrounding him and consuming him. This was the way it was _supposed to be_.

"Nanase Haruka has been chosen," a voice to his right announced, sounding far away and unimportant. "The Order recognizes Nanase Haruka as Iwatobi's Knight."

Haru's eyes snapped open and he pulled his hand from the water even before a member of the Order grabbed hold of him to move him to the side so that the ceremony could continue. Something was wrong wrong wrong.

As the ceremony went on, names being called and each person being rejected, the feeling of wrongness worsened. As the last name was called and Yamada Takashi also received a negative result, silence rushed over those in attendance. Haru could see some of the trainees glancing at each other nervously.

"This is very bad," the elder said, seeming to speak to no one in particular, "The spell is unfinished and the bond will try to complete itself one way or another. If we don't find the Priest soon, I fear we may lose them to the water."

The group burst into motion, Sasabe calling for the retrieval of anyone of the correct age group who wasn't already present over the sound of growing panic, but Haru was rooted to the spot.

He remembered Makoto who was always sickly around the time of the summer festival.

He remembered Makoto, already taller than him but looking small and fragile as he cradled his burnt hand. Makoto saying "I panicked".

He remembered Makoto standing in the surf on the beach, afraid of the water because it felt like something was trying to suck him in.

He remembered a Makoto who was small and a Makoto who was big and they both smiled at him just the same.

He remembered four years with no Makoto except for the letters that he dutifully wrote every week and tried to imagine the rest of his life without even that.

And then he was no longer standing in place, he was running and running and ignoring the people shouting after him because they didn't matter.

_Makoto._


End file.
